A new automatic fire alarm policy will take effect across the county next month for the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The fire service said: “Fire alarms are essential for early fire detection, protecting lives and property. However, most alarms are false, often triggered by cooking fumes, dust, or poor maintenance. Unnecessary fire alarms (UFAS) divert critical resources.”

As a result, the fire service has made a change taking place next month.

Starting October 10, Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service will not be attending automatic fire alarm activations unless a building is deemed to be a high-risk building or, unless a fire has been confirmed or there are signs of fire.

High-risk buildings are those that specifically house vulnerable people or provide sleeping accommodation for people or, they represent a critical community asset that would be locally, nationally, or internationally damaging if lost or seriously damaged by fire. High-risk buildings are also those that might pose a significant risk to firefighter or community safety or to the safety of animals and the environment.

High-risk buildings also include private homes/dwellings including residential flats, mobile homes, house boats, residential care homes, nursing homes, children’s homes, sheltered housing for more vulnerable persons, schools including boarding schools, secure detention facilities, e.g., prisons, hospitals and hospices, hotels and guest houses, buildings housing animals such as zoos, kennels or veterinary surgeries and high profile heritage buildings such as Blenheim Palace, buildings determined to represent a high or very high-risk due to the potential community impact and critical community infrastructure such as certain military establishments, telecoms and utilities infrastructure (e.g., pumping stations, substations, exchanges).

The fire service has recommended businesses take the following steps: Ensure their fire alarm systems are properly maintained and regularly inspected, train staff to safely investigate alarms before calling emergency services, update their fire safety protocols and communicate changes to all employees and consult with their insurance provider regarding the new response policy.

Reducing false alarms The fire service also suggests businesses take several steps to minimize false alarms including review and update fire safety risk assessments, log and analyse false alarms to identify patterns, upgrade outdated alarm systems with modern technology, install protective covers on manual call points, regularly maintain fire detection systems and seek advice from fire safety professionals and alarm system providers.

The fire service said there are several benefits of reducing false alarms, which include how they increase overall safety by ensuring alarms are taken seriously, reduces business disruptions and lost productivity, frees up fire service resources for actual emergencies and lowers the risk of road accidents from emergency responses.

The fire service also said it will always attend a confirmed fire.